I Can Hear The Bells

So I recently joined a group on Facebook for my old Elementary School, Brentwood Elementary in Austin, TX. On the board, someone posted a link to a virtual tour of the school and it took me back in time a bit. I mean, things have obviously changed, but some things haven't and it was good to take a trip down memory lane. So then I thought, hmmm. I should invite my blog readers to join me on the trip. So here we go! Pull out your Capri Suns and Twizzlers, slip on your mismatched 80s shirts and let's do the time warp again!

This is the front of that grand old school. Yes, every morning I was there bright and early. Mom always had to drop us off super early cause she had to go to work early. So we sat there, all together on the benches in front of the school. Most of the time I just read or listened to my walkman. And what pray tell was playing on my walkman?
Well. . . SWV of course!



What can I say, even back then I was a hopeless romantic. ;) Let's carry on. . .

Here's the old cafeteria. I'm pretty sure they changed out the fabric, but that stage still gives me the willies. I remember having to be part of a play on that stage and I was SO nervous! We did a play called HOW TO EAT LIKE A CHILD and it was seriously the funniest play ever. The best thing about it was that this one kid, Kyle Tweety, had this recurring part of playing prank phone calls and he totally hammed it up! It was awesome!

And in the end, I realized that it was actually really fun to act. Kinda wish I had stuck with it. . . but only kinda. ;)

Ah, this is where we sat to eat our breakfast pizza. . .which happens to be in the shape of a rectangle, not a triangle. Many a PBJ and Twinkie was swapped out here. I did enjoy lunchtime though cause I got to sit and laugh with all of my friends.

Now THIS... this was my haven. My utopia if you will! Surrounded by books! That was my favorite place to be! I would spend so much time there, reading so many books—The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush, Rikki Tikki Tembo, Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters, and of course, my favorite: Follow the Drinking Gourd. I also would continually check out books about the Titanic and about the Holocaust, craving information and imagining being in those situations. I loved my Librarian. . . she made story time so much fun! (see, now I sound like a kid again! ha!)

Then there was Gym class . . . the bane of my existence. You see, those uneven bars and those rope climbing excercises seem like all fun and games, UNLESS you're the chubby chick who is afraid of heights! I still remember having to hang upside down from those uneven bars as a kid, because it was part of my grade, and I was crying so hard that the teacher only made me stay up there for a minute. Yeah, I wasn't a fan of that. But I did love the balance beam and when they brought out the giant parachute tent looking thing and you would run under it and sit and then do it all over again and bounce balls off of it. So much fun. But I gotta admit, my MOST FAVORITE thing about Gym class was when they brought out the scooters and we got to scoot all around the gym to Kylie Minogue's LOCOMOTION! It was the bomb dot com!

Wait . . . you don't know that song? Well let me enlighten you. It's definitely a fun Gym class song!



go ahead, take a dance break and listen to it again!!! :D

Art class was another favorite! This was where I FIRST learned that grass was actually different shades of green and the sky was different shades of blue. I LOVED Art class. My favorite was Oil Pastels :D They rocked my world.

And then there was the Music room, where I first learned to play WHEN THE SAINTS GO MARCHING IN and the beginning part of LEAN ON ME on keyboard. :D Though I must say, if I ever play it for you, you should watch my mouth cause as I play I'll be counting the notes using my fingers. So if I play Lean On Me, you'll see me go: one, one two three four, four three two one. One two three, three, three. Two two one, one. one, one two three four, four three two one. One two three. One, two, one. Ha ha hahahaha!

This classroom reminds me of my 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Pace's classroom. And that makes me happy. She was my favorite teacher and she really truly encouraged me to pursue my dreams at all cost. She had a LOVE for the English language and for books and imagination and it TOTALLY rubbed off on me. :D

And we can't forget this little area. During recess me and my friends would sit out on this back porch and make friendship bracelets while we watched the boys run around. We all talked about how we were each going to marry Drew Hanson, who was the cutest boy in the 5th grade class. We talked about how we hoped our other guy friends wouldn't get upset when we had to let them down gently. And we imagined how adorable our kids would be if one of us was lucky enough to marry Drew. For the record, I to this day, don't know where Drew is or what he's like. ha! But even back then I tried to get my flirt on at the playground. But I think he was really into Nora McMillan. . . so it was all for nothing. ;)

Well, thanks for taking this fun journey with me. I hope it made you feel a bit like a kid again. :D